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blogging at the intersection of communication and technologyenshel@holtz.comCopyright 2016 Holtz Communications + Technology2016-12-09T22:44:00+00:00http://holtz.com/blog/chatbots/friday-wrap-196-nfl-lightens-up-tinder-has-a-podcast-starbucks-launches-a-c/4705/
http://holtz.com/blog/chatbots/friday-wrap-196-nfl-lightens-up-tinder-has-a-podcast-starbucks-launches-a-c/4705/#When:22:44:00ZI extract items for the Wrap from my link blog, which you’re welcome to follow. To make sure you never miss an issue, subscribe to my weekly email briefing.

News

Facebook patents tool to remove fake news—Facebook has filed a patent for “systems and methods to identify objectionable content.” The technology has been in the works since 2015 but takes on new urgency with CEO Mark Zuckerberg asserting Facebook has to come up with “better technical systems to detect what people will flag as false before they do it themselves.” The takeaway: This is good news for business, which is fast becoming the new target for fake news. On the other hand, I worry that a technology like this will target legitimate satire (like The Onion) and the expression of opinion.Read more

NFL lightens up (a little) on GIFs and video—Among the professional sports leagues, none are more authoritarian than the National Football League (NFL), which has slammed the door on video and GIF sharing during games. According to a recent memo, the NFL is now letting teams post non-highlight GIFs and videos (that feature no on-field action), but no more than the 16-video limit. They can also post five clips to Snapchat during a game and stream three non-game day press conferences on Facebook Live. The NFL apparently also is testing a partnership with Giphy, which may become a source of “ancillary game and historical/iconic” GIFs. The takeaway: Baby steps. Any move in the right direction is better than the draconian rules the NFL has imposed on its teams. To see what teams can do without these restrictions, check out the NBA.Read more

Reddit acts to keep ads from appearing on conspiracy-driven topics—Reddit’s conspiracy subreddit hasn’t always been a home to serious conspiracy nuts; it used to be just harmless banter. But that has changed as part of the troubling rise of fake news and unsubstantiated memes (like the PizzaGate tale that led to an arrest after a man motivated by reading fake news opened fire in a Washington, D.C. pizza restaurant). To address the problem, Reddit has added the conspiracy subreddit to its “no ads” list. The takeaway: As with Facebook’s patent, above, this is another effort to disassociate brands from craziness. But brands will have to monitor where their own content appears, too rather than hope ad exchanges and social sites will take care of everything for them.Read more

Tinder rolls out a podcast with a data-driven foundation—Dating app Tinder is the latest company to introduce a podcast. DTR (Define the Relationship) is a six-part series that covers dating-related issues in the digital age (e.g., how to build an online profile). Tindr is relying on data to help frame the episodes. For example, the first episode looks at the tendency for people to start an online dating encounter with the message, “hey.” The episode points out that you’re more likely to get a response if you use a GIF than just say, “hey.” Tinder knows because the GIF search engine baked into the Tinder app reveals that people use GIFs on the app are 30% more likely to get a response and have conversations that last twice as long. The company will promote the podcast within the app. The takeaway: A dating-focused podcast from a company associated with it is a great idea, but what really excites me here is creating content based on data. I reported a similar effort last week, from Stoli, which mined Google Trends to determine what kind of content would be popular on Instagram.Read more

Top VR players create an association—The Global Virtual Reality Association is a non-profit collaboration of Google, Oculus (from Facebook), Vive (from HTC), Acer, Samsung, and Sony. The association’s website says its goal is to promote responsible development and adoption. It promises members will develop and share best practices, conduct research, and bring the international VR community together. It will also be a resource for consumers, policymakers and industry. The takeaway: I’m happy to see cooperation among the big players establishing this kind of altruistic organization, which should be able to address worrisome issues (like assault in virtual worlds, which has already arisen) so action can be taken consistently by all players. There’s more on VR in the VR/AR/MR section below.)Read more

Tweet an emoji to Google to conduct a search—Google has enabled a new service that lets you tweet an emoji to @Google in order to initiate a search. Send the burger emoji, for example, and Google will let you know (for instance) where the closest burger joints are. The takeaway: While not the most exciting thing I’ve read this week, this does speak bot to the staying power of emojis and the changing nature of search (which is even better exemplified in the growing number of searches conducted by voice using the Amazon Echo, Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and other voice tech tools).Read more

Trends

Dedicated video tab a hit even before everyone has access to it—The dedicated video tab for Facebook’s mobile app is part of the bottom menu, alongside the notifications, timeline, marketplace, and settings tabs, opening into a separate video hub and delivering live videos and other video content based on your interests and subscriptions. If you haven’t seen it, that’s because it has only been available to a small group of users as part of a test. But it is already exciting media analysts and media buyers. A dedicated space for video makes Facebook more appealing as a platform for premium video content. The takeaway: While there’s no word on when the tab will be rolled out to everybody, the excitement among media buyers amplifies the certainty that Facebook sees video as key to its future. As one media exec put it, “Facebook video has become like Google Search in that it’s on every media plan.” At the same time, nobody is planning to abandon TV.Read more

Fake news worries brands—Brands are suddenly anxious about where their ads show up. Programmatic buying has created some awkward juxtapositions for some time—ads appearing on sites not appropriate to the advertiser—but a programmatic buying company is seeing a surge in clients asking about their ads showing up on alt-right sites that host fake news and racist language. There are two solutions: whitelists (which ensure ads appear only on sites where the advertiser wants them to show up) and blacklists (which specify sites where the advertisers does not want an ad to appear). Research reveals that only 51% of US marketers are updating blacklists; only 45% use whitelists. The takeaway: Over the last few days I have seen consumer-initiated campaigns to alert advertisers to their ads appearing on one popular alt-right website and encouraging them to blacklist the sites. This anxiety is only going to grow as the situation is bound to get worse before it gets better (if it ever does).Read more

Company values are suddenly controversial—It used to be the height of the mundane for a company to proclaim its values included tolerance, diversity, and inclusion. Now, with the rise of the alt-right, emboldened by a Donald Trump presidential victory and the Brexit vote (among other indicators), companies embracing these values are finding themselves under assault. I have covered examples Paul Holmes lists in this article, including blowback from Pepsi when its CEO reported concern among her employees and an expression of optimism by New Balance leading to the sneakers being adopted as “the official shoes of white people.” The takeaway: Holmes is exactly right: What used to be no big deal—articulating a company’s values—will become an act of courage.Read more

Marketers need to look beyond branding—Business leaders expect their marketers to help grow the business in measurable ways, but marketers appear to be stuck in branding mode, according to a report from the CMO Council and Deloitte. One reason marketers aren’t meeting this expectations is that they don’t have access to critical areas or the tools they need to make an impact on the business. Less than 10% of CMOs are working to re-engage with lost or dormant sales accounts, auditing and improving the customer experience, or looking for strategic partnerships, alliances, and acquisitions to help drive growth. The takeaway: Not just marketing, but all communication-focused teams need to be better aligned with sales, product development, customer service, and other revenue-driving parts of the organization. The job goes well beyond just brand-building.Read more

Instagram Stories drive traffic—One short month after the launch of Instagram Stories, brands report that 15-25% of the people who see a link in a Story swipe on it. For example, clothing brand MeUndies sees swipe-through rates of 15-20%. Outdoors magazine Outside averages 20-25% swipe-through rates. At this point, just having a link in an Instagram story isn’t enough to get people to take action. Customers aren’t used to swiping in links in Instagram; Instagram adds “see more” and an arrow at the bottom of Story slides that have a link in order to make the opportunity clear. The takeaway: Instagram should be on your radar and you should be thinking about how to take advantage of the hugely popular new Stories feature. (People are actually abandoning Snapchat because they have more connections on Instagram and stories provides the same kind of content they liked on Snapchat.)Read more

L’Oreal influencer program focuses on the long term—Social influencer campaigns are hot. They’re also mostly short-term. L’Oreal Paris thinks that’s a mistake. The company’s “Beauty Squad” initiative is designed to “craft a different type of relationship” with influencers. The squad includes five of the UK’s most influential beauty bloggers with a combined reach of more than 5 million YouTube viewers (and equally impressive numbers through other social media channels). The squad will be L’Oreal brand ambassadors, creating content to promote product awareness and drive engagement. Assembling a team with a cumulative 5 million YouTube subscribers rather than going after one with far more was an attempt to be more authentic; the squad members are already known for their knowledge and expertise in their fields (one is known for skincare, another for hair, for example). The takeaway: Establishing smaller, more authentic partnerships that the typical Mylie Cyrus or Kim Kardashian post can overcome a growing cynicism among audiences for paid influence. It also makes influencer marketing more affordable to companies with smaller budgets. I can even see the “squad” concept applied to B2B campaigns.Read more

Social media pressure leading extreme athletes to take great risks—Adventuresome athletes are expected to share videos and build a fanbase. With fans tracking several extreme athletes, the pressure to be more extreme and daring for the audience is leading to bigger risks—and injury and death. The takeaway: Companies like GoPro. National Geographic, and Red Bull are sponsoring these events, while new platforms like Facebook Live and Instagram Stories are offering new venues for the videos. Some brands are pulling back their sponsorships. Your brand needs to consider whether the views are worth putting people in danger.Read more

Marketing needs closer ties to IT—That’s the focus of this Harvard Business Review piece, but I firmly believe the same is true of PR, employee communications, corporate comms, and other communication-focused departments. I hear too frequently about conflicts between IT and communications, which makes little sense to me given that the same conflicts were never part of communicators’ relationships with printers. (IT, after all, is the printer of the digital age.) Read more

Research

See fake news, believe fake news—Americans believe a fake news headline 75% of the time they see one, according to a survey which also found that people who use Facebook to get news are most likely to believe a fake news headline that crosses their feeds. The takeaway: Companies—which are fast becoming targets for fake news—have a lot of work to do to make sure the facts get out, particularly to key stakeholders and customers.Read more

Trends report finds people have had enough already—Havas PR is out with its annual trends report and finds that “Several of the trends…serve as a commentary on the unintended consequences of major events like the Brexit vote and the U.S. election,” according to Havas CEO Martin Salzman. The top 17 trends including a population more energized to act against what they don’t want more than they are to act for what they do want. People aren’t listening to perspectives different than their own. The demand for privacy will grow. The takeaway: Knowing key trends can inform everything from business strategy to communication focus. All 17 trends are interesting enough to review. And Havas has had a pretty decent track record with its previous trend reports.Read more

AI and Chatbots

Starbucks introduces a chatbot barista—Starbucks calls it an “innovative conversational ordering system.” Its name: My Starbucks Barista. It allows customers to place orders by voice command or by text. A demonstration video showed a customer making a complex order (including “double upside down macchiato half decaf with room and a splash of cream in a grande cup”) which the bot understood correctly. The takeaway: Customer service will be the first big use of AI and chatbots, but there’s more to come. Even for this kind of application, communicators need to be involved. Script-writing shouldn’t be left to IT. We also need to be looking for other opportunities to shift communication from current methods to more effective chatbot engagements.Read more

AI can remove the frustration from customer service—Artificial Intelligence can address all the expectations customers have for service from the companies they do business with while reducing the cost of customer support. “From ordering flowers to purchasing airline tickets to getting financial advice, the demand for actual reps is plummeting thanks to chatbots,” according to a TNW article. The takeaway: The example above from Starbucks is just one angle where a chatbot (activated by voice or text) can provide better service to any number of customers at one time. Are you convinced yet of the role AI-driven chatbots will play?Read more

CoverGirl stakes claim to the first influencer chatbot marketing campaign—The campaign invites fans to use messaging app Kik (which embraced bots early with its Bot Shop) to interact with a chatbot that emulates Kalani Hilliker, a 16-year-old entertainer. To date, results include 14 times more conversations with the chatbot than with an average post by the real celebrity, 91% positive sentiment, and an average of 17 messages per conversation, nearly half of which lead to a coupon deliver. The coupons themselves are driving more than 50% click-throughs. The takeaway: This AdAge article emphasizes the analytics available through the bot platform, reinforcing the fact that a well-thought-out bot will not only attract customers, it can provide far more metrics than conversations with a real person. It’s important to note that the bot does not try to trick fans into thinking it’s the actual human celebrity.Read more

Hearst team tackles voice-activated experiences—A 10-person team is developing experiences for voice-controlled technology like Google Home and Amazon Echo. For instance, the team introduced an Amazon Echo Skill for Good Housekeeping that lets users get a guide to removing stains (which also plays music in the background while you follow the instructions). Another skill was created for Elle (which answers horoscope questions) and another for two of the publisher’s daily newspapers (adding their news to the Echo’s Flash Briefings feature). The takeaway: PR agencies would be well served to consider similar teams that can build voice experiences to support broader campaigns on clients’ behalf.Read more

Google opens Assistant actions to developers—Google Assistant, the AI product that fuels the Google Home speaker (competitor to Amazon Echo) and Pixel smartphones, now features a developer platform called Actions on Google. Developers will be able to create Direct Actions and Conversation Actions, the latter of which is now available. Unlike the Echo, users “won’t need to enable a skill or an install an app, they can just talk to your action,” Google said in its announcement. The takeaway: Developers will write the code but communicators will—or at least, they should—write the scripts. We should also be determining what kinds of conversations people should have with the brand via the Home and Pixel; what problems can we help the customer solve or how can these conversations enhance the brand?Read more

Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality

NHL adds Snapchat’s Spectacles to fan experience—The National Hockey League’s Minnesota Wild used Snapchat Spectacles (which record 10-second videos from the user’s POV and uploads them to the user’s Snapchat account) to record behind-the-scenes action (like pre-game warmups, locker room shots, and a T-shirt cannon) during a game last month. That makes the Wild the first professional sports team to use a wearable. The takeaway: I don’t expect Spectacles to be a runaway hit, but they are popular and what the Wild di demonstrates the potential for other kinds of organizations. What kind of compelling content could you create from a person’s point of view that people would devote 10 seconds to watch?Read more

Immersive video promotes Clorox’s cause-related engagement—Clorox’s Safe Water Project—which provides materials to kill bacteria and viruses in water where clean water is hard to get—may not be as well known as their household products, but an immersive video might help. The video, shot in Peru, demonstrates how much of a difference a few drops of bleach can make in purifying water for drinking. The film concludes with the appearance of a click-to-donate button. The takeaway: Feeling like you’re there can have a far greater emotional impact than a traditional video that leaves you feeling informed but detached. The problem is that most people will watch a 360-degree video by manipulating it on a computer screen, not on a VR headset (sales of which are still underwhelming). While this creates greater engagement, it still lacks the emotional punch of watching in full VR mode. But anything that gets people thinking about these kinds of societal issues is great. Is your organization involved in making the world a better place? Immersive video could be a great new way to share that story.Read more

AR overshadowing VR—The hardware for Virtual Reality may be more widely available and affordable, but the content isn’t available to entice people to rush out and buy it. Meanwhile, Augmented Reality (as demonstrated with Snapchat Lenses and the outsized success of Pokémon Go) is creating more excitement. The takeaway: Make no mistake, VR is going to be big, but mostly for gaming and entertainment among consumers while businesses adopt niche uses (in fields like medicine). The potential for AR, though, is much bigger, especially since you can wear the headset and still see the real world. For one example, see the next item.Read more

AR could help law enforcement fight crime—At least, that’s the goal of experiments undertaken by Dutch police. An AR-fueled rig can be used to mark evidence and leave short notes about a crime scene. It could also be used to create reconstructions of crimes in courtrooms, among other applications. The takeaway: Once AR becomes widely available, the use cases will explode. It’s not too early to start considering how you can better convey a message by overlaying digital information on the real world.Read more

Hand motion comes to VR—Leap Motion, a hand tracking company, has introduced a new platform that will bring hand-tracking to VR headsets. Dubbed the Leap Motion Mobile Platform, it uses two miniature cameras embedded in a face plate to detect finger motion in VR experiences like the Samsung Gear VR and other less-expensive headsets. Demos from the company let you create and bat around objects with your hands within a VR environment. The takeaway: As the article notes, this technology does not include positional tracking, which could detect you leaning forward, for instance. Still, being able to control virtual objects with your actual hands is a big step toward the holy grail of Mixed Reality.Read more

This week’s Wrap image is of a building in Prague that looks like it was wrapped in bubble wrap (according to Michael Thomas, who shared the image on his Flickr account).

Breitbart News called for a boycott of Kellogg’s after the cereal company pulled its ads, then started publishing articles critical of the company after calling the decision to withdraw advertising “censorship.” Is this the new reality for companies making what used to be simple business decisions?

Employee engagement surveys aren’t worth much anymore according to one expert, since people are more concerned about survey scores than addressing engagement issues. Is it time to stop measuring engagement?

Virtual Reality headset sales aren’t setting any records. Can public relations help make it go mainstream?

With the Amazon Echo and Google Home, along with Siri and Google Now, it’s fast becoming a voice-driven world. Brands and agencies will have to adapt.

A lot has happened on the fake news front since we first reported on it, including a shooting in Washington, D.C. by a North Carolina man “self-investigating” a fake news story. We’ll bring you up to date.

Chris Abraham, digital strategist and technologist, is a leading expert in digital: search engine optimization (SEO), online relationship management (ORM), Internet privacy, and online public relations with a focus on blogger outreach, blogger engagement, and Internet crisis response. He operates his consultancy at Gerris Corp. A pioneer in online social networks and publishing, with a natural facility for anticipating the next big thing, Chris is an Internet analyst, web strategy consultant and adviser to the industries’ leading firms. He specializes in Web 2.0 technologies, including content syndication, online collaboration, blogging, and consumer generated media.

Cindy Crescenzo brings more than 15 years of research, measurement and planning expertise to the corporate communications world. Her passion for numbers and audience research have helped thousands of communicators all over the world transform the way they communicate, by teaching them the power of surveys, metrics, focus groups and executive interviews. She and her husband and business partner, Steve Crescenzo, founded Crescenzo Communications more than 20 years ago and together they have energized the communication industry with their proven tactics and strategies to combine research and strategy with creativity and best-practice communications.

Steve Farnsworth has over 15 years as a senior digital marketing executive, and is currently the Chief Marketing Officer for the @Steveology Group, a content marketing for demand generation agency serving high tech B2B organizations. He works with mid-sized and large companies, and funded start-ups to develop and implement multimedia content marketing programs that increase inbound leads and grows brand reputation. Steve is a Forbes top 50 social media influencer. He is a digital marketing educator and has moderated panels, spoken at, or managed industry events at Google, Intel, PayPal, Yahoo!, Cisco, Adobe, Electronic Arts, HP, SAP, Wells Fargo, TEDx, Applied Materials, Symantec, NetApp, and Stanford on brand, social, digital, and content marketing.

]]>2016-12-06T01:24:00+00:00http://holtz.com/blog/employee-engagement/friday-wrap-195-breitbarts-boycott-a-corporate-memo-ban-the-rise-of-voice-t/4703/
http://holtz.com/blog/employee-engagement/friday-wrap-195-breitbarts-boycott-a-corporate-memo-ban-the-rise-of-voice-t/4703/#When:21:46:00ZI extract items for the Wrap from my link blog, which you’re welcome to follow. To make sure you never miss an issue, subscribe to my weekly email briefing.

Alerts

Writing for Mobile—As part of a client project, I have been researching the living daylights out of best practices, empirical studies, and real-world experiences when it comes to writing for mobile devices (mainly smartphones). I’ll share what I’ve learned in a webinar scheduled for noon EST on December 14. Register

Excellence in New Communication Awards—If you have produced work that reflects innovation in the use of digital and social media, mobile media, collaborative technologies, virtual reality, or other emerging digital communications technologies, then you want to make sure to enter it in the 2017 SNCR Excellence in New Communication Awards. Unlike other competitions, the Society for New Communication Research—now part of The Conference Board—turns winners into case studies. The deadline for entries is February 3. Read more

News

Breitbart launches boycott after Kellogg’s pulls ads—Kellogg’s decided to pull its advertising from far-right news site Breitbart.com based on increased scrutiny of its populist, anti-immigrant views which, the company said, conflicted with its own values. In response, Breitbart News has launched a petition encouraging readers to boycott Kellogg’s products. It is also running stories critical of the company, including an Amnesty International claim that Kellogg’s uses child labor. Alex Marlow, Breitbart’s editor-in-chief, wrote, “For Kellogg’s, an American brand, to blacklist Breitbart News in order to placate left-wing totalitarians is a disgraceful act of cowardice.” The takeaway: Companies used to be able to make advertising decisions without being dragged into controversy. No more. Even simple ad placement decisions can result in fairly savage attacks. Be prepared. Also, it’s worth noting that left-leaning consumers have been posting their intention to increase their Kellogg’s purchases to offset the boycott and support the company’s decision.Read more

Reddit announces changes after CEO apology—Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has apologies for editing comments made about him in a pro-Donald Trump subreddit. At the same time, he announced the introduction of filters in the r/all subreddit that let people filter out subreddits from their r/all page (so you don’t have to see pro-Trump messages, for example). The takeaway: That had to be a hard choice for a site that has proclaimed itself a bastion of open and free speech. It points to the challenges social sites face in balancing free speech with managing a venue where people feel reasonably safe from hate speech and other offensive commentary. If you’re waiting for the perfect solution, please don’t hold your breath.Read more

FTC disclosure guidelines: They’re not just for superstars anymore—The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been clear that when Miley Cyrus or Kim Kardashian get paid to promote a product on Instagram or some other venue, disclosure of the paid relationship is required. Consumer watchdogs have noticed ordinary people with just a few followers are also exerting influence on behalf of brands, many without using “#ad” or “#paid” signals to inform followers that they were compensated for the post. Public Citizen is among the organizations calling attention to “micro-influencers” in a letter to the FTC. The takeaway: If you lead an influencer marketing campaign, it doesn’t matter how well-known your influencers are. You must insist that they play by the rules and disclose the relationship in their posts.Read more

Levi’s CEO stakes position on open-carry on LinkedIn—Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Chip Bergh took to LinkedIn to ask Levi customers to refrain from carrying weapons into the company’s stores. The letter was precipitated by an incident in which a customer’s gun went off in a store, injuring the customer. The takeaway: In addition to the growing trend of CEO’s taking stands on socially divisive issues, it’s important to note that Bergh chose LinkedIn as the venue for disseminating the message. Others have opted for Medium.com. Some use their Facebook pages. What they’re not using: blogs. While some will decry the marginalizing of the open web in favor of walled gardens, the tactic is sound since these posts get more attention and spread more quickly through built-in sharing methods.Read more

Facebook blocks Prisma’s filters from Facebook Live—Prisma filters are way cool, leading a lot of people to apply them to their Facebook Live broadcasts. No more. Facebook says its Live Video API is only for non-mobile devices like professional cameras and drones. Since Prisma’s filters are produced only from smartphones, they fall outside the Live Video API rules as articulated in an FAQ. However, “the FAQ doesn’t expplicitly say that third-party apps like Prisma can’t publish live video to Facebook via a smartphone’s cameras.” More likely is that Facebook is getting ready to launch its own live art filters and wants to stomp on any competition. The takeaway: This is why we can’t have nice things.Read more

Trends

Beacons are dead—They were hot a couple years ago, but they never took off for a variety of reasons. Beacons, once a highly touted technology from Apple and Google, are devices that deliver signals to mobile apps in the micro-local physical world (such as in a retail store). Why they never took off: They never did anything customers actually wanted. Also, installing and maintaining them is a lot of work. The takeaway: Geofencing is easier than beacons and we’ll see other technologies that can deliver useful content or information based on a hyper-local location. I’m not saying beacons could never rise from the dead and fine a useful niche, but right now they’re just not on my radar as a technology to pay attention to.Read More

Instagram will overtake Twitter as a marketing channel—eMarketer predicts that in 2017, more marketers will use Instagram than Twitter. According to the forecast, 74.2% of U.S. companies with more than 100 employees will use Instagram for marketing compared to 66.2% that will use Twitter. The takeaway: More bad news for Twitter, but this also speaks to Instagram’s growing influence. I have also seen data showing that Instagram is also one of marketers’ top channel preferences for influence marketing.Read more

Some traditional PR skills are still in demand—While SEO and SEM expertise and other digital skills are increasingly important for PR practitioners, some age-old competencies remain at the core of the profession: writing, research, project management, and presentation skills are musts, according to a “PR Agency of the Future” panel. The takeaway: I couldn’t agree more. However, having these skills and not having competencies that are required to deliver results in the modern media environment won’t get you very far.Read more

Accenture CEO bans corporate memos in favor of video—Accenture North America CEO Julie Sweet banned corporate memos, opting to use live-streamed conversations and pre-recorded video messages, which she says has improved communication across her team of 50,000 employees. “It allows you to be more authentic and less scripted,” she said. The takeaway: The era of C-suite executives who confine themselves to the ivory tower and rarely interact with employees (and other stakeholders) is over. Kudos to Sweet for taking this step. More leaders need to follow, not only with video but also with audio, which remains undervalued even as its influence rises.Read more

Be wary of making bad decisions based on data—Data is increasingly a key factor in communications. SHIFT Communications, for example, makes a point of proclaiming it was the first PR agency to become Google Analytics-certified. I have argued for some time that communicators need to improve their data chops, including figuring out how to do the corporate communications equivalent of data journalism. But this MIT Sloan Management Review piece points out that data can lead you to believe something that isn’t true or doubt something that is. This doesn’t mean you should give up on data, but be aware of the traps that may be waiting for you in data, models, and interpretation. The takeaway: Getting adept at data and analytics includes knowing how to avoid making mistakes when using them. Know the questions to ask about the data you’re reviewing.Read more

CEOs need to use social channels to connect with employees—Eighty-one percent of the general population views employee communications as a way to increase CEO trust. Employees are perceived as among a company’s most credible spokespeople, ranking well above CEOs. Thus, it is incumbent upon CEOs to engage directly with employees and social media provides a means that is more authentic and transparent. Edelman tested the notion that actively communicating with employees on social media improves a CEO’s approval rating and found that 75% of the top 50 highest-rated CEOs were present on social media channels and that the top 25 tended to be more socially active than those in the next 25 on the list. The takeaway: There are other reasons for CEOs to be active on social media. As I have noted before, we are now living in the era of the social CEO, when a more tangible and informal connection between leaders and stakeholders is required. This also speaks to the blurring of lines between internal and external communications, since engaging employees via LinkedIn or other public social media is public.Read more

Facebook groups are a source of business—A marketing agency VP left her job to become a sole practitioner and was surprised that Facebook groups became the primary source of leads and clients. The takeaway: LinkedIn usually gets the attention when we talk about business-focused discussion groups, but Kristi Dosh points out she’s not alone in generating business by participating in Facebook groups. It’s not a stretch to suggest business-focused Facebook groups would also be a smart venue for thought leadership and other engagement between brands and influencers.Read more

Research

The future of news delivery could look a lot like election day mobile notifications—Mobile push notifications to smartphones were the source of election news for a lot of Americans. The Tow Center for Digital Journalism found that 469 notifications were sent on election day and the day after by the 23 publishers it followed. Yahoo News delivered more than 60, The Wall Street Journal fewer than 10. Some included videos and images, others used emojis. Rather than driving traffic, the traditional role of a notification, these were the primary source of information, although one publication still saw huge traffic to its site. The effectiveness of this delivery method is likely to find its way into day-to-day news delivery. The takeaway: First, companies should pay close attention and figure out how notifications can play a part in their news distribution strategies. Second, media relations professionals need to consider pitches that are notification-ready.Read more

Consumers who share content nine times more likely to buy—Research from RadiumOne found that consumers who share a brand’s content are nine times more likely to purchase products from that brand than someone who doesn’t. The report also revealed that 75% of consumer sharing happens in “dark social” accounts, such as email, messaging apps, and other channels brands can’t monitor and track. Consumers who share content with themselves are 1.7 times more likely to buy (that is, emailing a video to themselves as a reminder to watch it later). The takeaway: I can’t emphasize enough the importance of making content shareable. It’s a question you should ask when creating it: Why would someone want to share this with colleagues, friends, or family?Read more

Are the right metrics being applied to influence marketing?—Most companies have adopted influencer marketing but count on engagement and reach to measure its effectiveness. Direct sales is being used by only about 5% of marketers as a metric. The goals of influence marketing are reaching a new audience, reaching a niche audience, and building early buzz around a new campaign. The takeaway: While the amount spent on influencer marketing is set to double in the next year, some research claims it’s the lowest-cost form of marketing. My caution is to be strategic. My most effective influencer marketing effort targeted B-listers, well-known people in niche communities, big fish in small ponds (as opposed to, say, Kim Kardashian).Read more

Chatbots and AI

Facebook videos demystify AI—Facebook has released a series of videos that deliver a brief introduction to Artificial Intelligence and how it works. The takeaway: AI will play a huge role in communications. These videos are a good way to start getting familiar with the technology. It’s also smart for Facebook to share these insights since so many people have a view of AI fueled by science fiction.Read more

Microsoft’s popular Chinese chatbot censors controversial topics—Xiaoice is incredibly popular in China, but the Microsoft chatbot won’t discuss Tiananmen Square, Donald Trump, the Communist Party, or the Dalai Lama, among other topics. Microsoft confirmed that the bot censors some topics the government doesn’t want discussed. It is, as this articles notes, an unavoidable cost of doing business in China. The takeaway: If the cost of doing business in China interests you, listen to the newest podcast on the FIR Podcast Network, “Digital China.” That’s just the kind of thing host Simon Young covers.Read more

Agencies want to be part of voice tech—Consumers increasingly interact with Amazon’s Echo, Google Home, and Apple’s Siri, among other voice technologies. The growing ubiquity of voice-enabled technology is turning the tech into a viable advertising/marketing platform. One agency exec said, “To ensure brands stay relevant, they need to be a central part of technologies that are solving consumer problems.” One example: Campbell’s has made its recipe library available on the Amazon Echo. The takeaway: Voice tech is one technology I am convinced will be a primary interface between people and information. Despite some people pushing back, I believe voice tech will be a more routine part of our day-to-day lives than Augmented Reality. Now is the time to start considering where your brand can be available to people interacting with AI via voice.Read more

Interested in voice tech? Here are two more articles to read—CMO.com shares a piece urging brands to get engaged in voice-tech as it begins to dominate the world (Read more) and Business Insider notes that voice search is creating a massive vulnerability for Google, whose business model is based on traditional web/text search (Read more).

AI will help Facebook identify offensive videos—Facebook is developing an Artificial Intelligence tool that will identify offensive material in live video streams. The takeaway: I mention this just to point out how ubiquitous AI is going to become in all facets of life and work.Read more

Mobile and Wearables

More than 25% of the world will use mobile messaging apps by 2019—eMarketer forecasts that 25% of the world’s population will use mobile messaging apps before the end of the decade. This year, 1.4 billion people already use these apps, with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for more than half of all chat app users worldwide. India is the second-largest market. The takeaway: Facebook wants Messenger to be the only app you ever open, with all other functionality built into it. Mobile messaging apps—which also are where chatbots live—represent one of the most important trends communicators are facing.Read more

Snapchat has revolutionized social networks—And it happened while we weren’t looking, according to The New York Times’ Farhad Manjoo. “In various large and small ways, Snap has quietly become one of the world’s most innovative and influential consumer technology companies,” he writes. From its more intimate and authentic conversations to vanishing (“ephemeral”) messages, from Live Stories to the built-in use of Augmented Reality (via its lenses), Snapchat may not get a lot of media love but its impact on new features on other social sites has been massive as its teen and 20-something audience continues to expand. The takeaway: Snapchat already has more active users than Twitter and its influence continues to grow. Don’t be put off if you’re not in the app’s core demographic. I’m 62 and I use it.Read more

Cute ads are about to hit your text messages—Text messages you share with friends, colleagues, and family are the last digital space free of ads, but don’t expect that to last long. Ads are being tested on apps like WhatsApp and Messenger, and a new company is working to introduce “playful, charming and natural ads on mobile messaging.” The startup, called Emogi, “is betting that branded emoji will be even more fun than regular emoji” and users won’t mind when they get them on their messaging apps designed to pitch products and services. The takeaway: Well, if they’re really playful and charming and fun, who would object to ads intruding on their one-to-one messaging sessions? (Answer: Messaging ad-blockers will follow in short order.)Read more

AMP content now on nearly 1 million domains—The Google-led Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project is up to 700,000 domains hosting content prepared using the AMP scripting language, after only 10 months since the project was introduced. Publishers say up to 15% of mobile traffic is going to AMP pages, “unprecedented for a new web technology.” The takeaway: AMP is still in its growing phase with many of the problems new technologies face, but it’s clear it is fast becoming a standard. Talk to your IT and web people to make sure you at least have AMP on your radar screen.Read more

Great ideas

Spotify’s billboards shame users’ listening habits—You wouldn’t think calling out customers on questionable habits would make for good marketing, but you’d most likely change your mind once you saw Spotify’s billboards. One billboard reads, “Dear person who made a playlist called: ‘One Night Stand With Jeb Bush Like He’s a Bond Girl in a European Casino.’ We have so many questions.” Another: “Dear person who played ‘Sorry’ 42 times on Valentine’s Day, What did you do?” The takeaway: This campaign, Spotify’s largest to date, is pitch perfect. Take a look.Read more

Stoli uses Google Trends data to create Instagram posts—What you see posted to Stolichnaya Elit’s Instagram page is informed by Google Trends data that scans online chatter to figure out which posts will resonate based on what people are talking about. “If a recipe for a chocolate martini is trending online, for instance, Elit’s social team will whip up a post and a picture of a chocolate drink within 24 hours.” The takeaway: And Google Trends is free, folks. There is definitely a lesson to be learned here!Read more

Pepsi conducts an internal Shark Tank—Fast Pitch was an internal challenge held at PepsiCo North America in August. Company marketers pitched ideas to a Shark Tank-like team of judges. They had three minutes to make their pitch and the judges had five minutes to ask questions. At stake: $1 million in marketing activation funding. The competition was launched by an internal innovation group introduced last year called PepsiCo Creator, “a catalyst group inside the organization to look at the edges of culture.” The takeaway: If anyone says your idea isn’t “businesslike,” push back or find a new place to work.Read more

This week’s Wrap image, from Glyol Lee’s Flickr account, portrays a Syrian Civil Defense worker carrying a child wrapped in a blanket over the rubble following a reported air strike by Syrian government forces on the Sukkari neighborhood of Syria’s northern city of Aleppo.

Trolls are not a new problem, but their impact has soared in recent months. Much of the increase in troll activity corresponds to the normalization of the alt-right (aka racist/nationalist) movement that paralleled Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Reddit is feeling the heat. The collaborative news site heralded as “the front page of the Internet” and a bastion of “authentic conversations” has been overrun by nationalist trolls, according to high-ranking volunteer moderators interviewed by Gizmodo. Mashable called Reddit “a free speech-smashing, garbage-churning hell pit.”

Twitter has been working to muzzle racist trolls, suspending accounts and launching tools users can use to mute, report, and fight back, a response to the surge in hate-fueled tweets.

The emboldening of alt-right trolls is happening at the same time companies are asking employees to advocate for them in their social media communities. Employee ambassador programs are on the rise for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact (corroborated annually by the Edelman Trust Barometer) that front-line employees are among the most credible spokespeople within a company. A report from the Altimeter Group found that 90% of brands are pursuing some form of employee advocacy—a doubling of the number from only a year earlier.

The normalizing of employee ambassador programs parallels another trend: the growing number of companies staking out positions on social issues. Multiple studies point to the growing number of stakeholders who prefer to do business with companies that go beyond traditional CSR and commit resources to making the world a better place.

These three trends—trolls, employee ambassador programs, and socially-active companies—are on a collision course. In one of his weekly reports on my podcast, For Immediate Release, Internet Society Senior Content Strategist Dan York explained that it had already happened at his employer. The Society supported the handoff of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to a global multistakeholder community following the expiration of the contract between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

As Dan explained it, NTIA’s role was to confirm ICANN’s technical instructions that root DNS operator Verisign would use to connect a new top-level domain (TLD) to the domain name registry with which ICANN contracted to operate the domain. “NTIA would look at (the instructions) and say, ‘Yep, ICANN followed all its processes; yep, everything’s all set here; yep, good to go. Make it happen, Verisign.’ And Verisign would then do it and (the new TLD) would then be published and all would be good. That’s it. That’s all that was being argued here.”

Forces on the political right, led by Sen. Ted Cruz, believed otherwise, arguing that the U.S. was ceding control of the Internet (which is patently untrue and demonstrates an all-too-familiar lack of understanding among politicians of how technology works). In launching an attempt to prevent the handover, right-wing trolls began attacking anyone who supported or even tried to explain what was happening.

That included Internet Society employees who had unwittingly taken to their own communities to promote their employer’s support for the handoff. “When you take a position,” Dan said, “you, of course, have opposition very often if it’s a strong position. We at the Internet Society came out very strongly in support of (the handoff). When Sen Ted Cruz and others were there whipping up the alt-right and others, we were out there, and I was personally out there, saying, ‘We need to say yes to IANA; we need to make this happen.’”

Supporters of the alt-right were robust in their attacks on supporters of the handoff, according to Dan. “They were calling us liars. They were calling us traitors…I was told I’m a terrorist.”

Because of his long experience online, Dan knew how to handle these kinds of uninformed, partisan attacks. “But some of our other employees also went and retweeted some of our tweets…and were surprised by the incredible dumping they got from those who were trolling them and those who were attacking anybody who was remotely positive (about the handoff) because we were ‘an enemy of the state.’ And they didn’t know how to really respond and, in fairness, we hadn’t fully prepared them.”

(You can hear Dan’s full report on episode 55 of For Immediate Release. It begins at the 1:12:36 mark.)

If the Internet Society’s employees were unprepared for troll attacks, it’s not unreasonable to assume employee ambassador companies with more commercial B2B and B2C companies are equally ill-equipped to address the kind of vile, crude, and often violent blowback they could get for helping their company articulate its point of view.

Even limiting one’s posts on behalf of an employer to product-related material could incite a hateful response if the company has taken a position contrary to a trolls’ perspective. For example, retailer Target has taken a strong position supporting transgender rights. An internal ambassador touting the company’s Black Friday deals might have been trolled just because she was a Target employee.

Given the fact that so many trolls now feel validated by Trump’s victory, the trolling is bound to get worse long before it gets better, despite Trump’s tepid call for an end to such behavior and despite the efforts of social media companies to minimize the trolling. These trolls are far worse than one who is unsatisfied with your company’s products. One victim said he saw images of his daughter’s face photoshopped into a gas chamber “with a smiling Trump in a Nazi uniform preparing to press a button and kill her.”

The guidelines for dealing with these kinds of trolls should be clear and distinct from the way employees might handle unhappy customers or angry ex-employees who troll the company.

How should companies help employee ambassadors prepare?

Most importantly, make sure employees know the risk. Odds are most employees retweeting feel-good product tweets or sharing Facebook coupon codes won’t attract trolls, but the surge of trolling means that it’s not impossible. For companies that have taken strong positions on social issues, the odds increase. Employees who post in support of those positions could be painting targets on their backs. They should know what they’re taking on.

Employees should also know that they are not required to post on every topic presented to the ambassador group. Members of the group should fee comfortable opting not to share content they think might provoke the trolls.

Include approaches to dealing with trolls in your companywide social media policy and in your ambassador training.

For those employees who want to support the company’s efforts despite the trolls, resources and training should be available to help them figure out what to do should they become the target of an attack. Among the key lessons: Don’t feed the trolls. Responding to a troll’s message encourages further attacks. Completely ignoring a troll is usually the best way to make it go away. You should also provide advice on how to correct inaccuracies and misinformation without sparking retaliation, on the potential for your community to rise to your defense, and on how to report the attack to the appropriate people in the company.

Has your company addressed trolls with employee ambassadors? Leave a comment and let me know what you’ve done and how it’s working.

Jim Hawker is Co-Founder and Business Development Director of Threepipe, a PR and digital marketing agency of 70 people based in London. The agency runs campaigns across PR, SEO and paid media for clients across business, consumer, sports and entertainment sectors. Jim has 20 years’ experience working both in house and agency side in both the UK and US. In his spare time he is a big sports fan as well as an avid reader of Sherlock Holmes (hence the connection to the Threepipe name).

Andrea Vascellari, host of FIR on StrategyAndrea Vascellari is an Experience Architect. He works at the intersection of digital transformation and experience design to help organizations develop their communications strategies. Andrea is an award-winning communications professional with over 15 years of professional experience and a deep understanding of marketing and communications, including public and media relations. He worked as Director of Digital and Content at WPP, world leader in advertising and marketing services, as Digital Planner at the leading global communications marketing firm Edelman, and as CEO of Itive, an international digital strategy agency he founded with offices in Finland and New York.

]]>2016-11-29T00:10:00+00:00http://holtz.com/blog/chatbots/friday-wrap-194-anonymous-blogging-cribbing-wikipedia-fake-google-marketing/4700/
http://holtz.com/blog/chatbots/friday-wrap-194-anonymous-blogging-cribbing-wikipedia-fake-google-marketing/4700/#When:20:01:00ZA very happy Thanksgiving weekend to my American readers! I extract items for the Wrap from my link blog, which you’re welcome to follow. To make sure you never miss an issue, subscribe to my weekly email briefing.

News

Anonymous blogging platform launches—Telegram—the popular privacy-focused messaging app that features robust encryption and self-destructing messages—has introduced a new blogging platform that lets people share stories anonymously without the need to register for an account. Dubbed Telegraph, the service is “the most lightweight blogging platform ever,” according to TNW. visit the site, add a title and your name (or pseudonym), and add text, images, tweets, and videos, then hit publish. Without a profile, you can’t collate your posts. There’s no commenting, either, and there’s nowhere to see Telegraph posts except when the URL for each individual item has been shared via social channels. The takeaway: This sounds great for quick publishing-and-sharing, but as the article notes, the potential for misuse is significant. It would be easy to publish under somebody else’s name. Telegraph could easily become the latest venue for fake news.Read more

The Pentagon plagiarized Wikipedia—The U.S. Defense Department plagiarized Wikipedia as part of its effort to justify its decision to build a new intelligence analysis center rather than use its existing facilities. A document submitted to various Congressional chairperson by a deputy defense secretary used information “directly copied from Wikipedia.” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes told the deputy secretary, “I’m just alarmed…that we would rely on Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia that’s famously known for most high school students plagiarizing their homework. And that the Department of Defense would even use Wikipedia, a free online service, to provide any information to Congress to put in any report.” The takeaway: If the Defense Department is doing it, you can believe that Wikipedia passages are showing up in business documents, too.Read more

Google tells you how busy a place is right now—Google has enhanced is Popular Times feature to show just how busy a restaurant, coffee shop, or bar is right now. Since the tool was introduced last year, it showed the ebb and flow of crowds based on patterns, but now it is applying anonymized local data and searches to figure out how crowded a place is in real time. The takeaway: I expect this kind of data to expand to all retail locations, which could incentivize companies to provide faster service in order to avoid customers opting to visit a competitor rather than deal with crowds. Some businesses could even use the data to demonstrate how popular they are.Read more

Facebook Live tests real-time ads—How do you let someone know you’re broadcasting right now via Facebook Live? If a Facebook test pays off, you may be able to advertise it. The ads appear in newsfeeds as the live stream is taking place. They could pay off, based on one cosmetic company’s experiment boosting a live video that performed significantly better than its videos that didn’t include paid promotion. The takeaway: I’m cautiously optimistic that paid ads will create more exposure for streaming videos people actually want to see, rather than clutter newsfeeds with unwanted promotions for video streams in which they have no interest.Read more

Analytics now available for Messenger chatbots—Facebook announced it is adding chatbot performance to its Facebook analytics for Apps. Brands will now be able to obtain insights about users interacting with the chatbots they have launched on Messenger. Among the metrics available are the number of messages sent and received, along with user blocks and unblocks. Reports will also provide aggregate, anonymized demographic data of users interacting with bots including age, gender, country, language, education, and interests. The reports will make it easy, for example for “a travel business (to) see how often people are transferred to a human agent” or “an ecommerce business can build cross-platform funnels to see what percentage of people interact with its bot also make a purchase on its website or app,” according to a Facebook software engineer. The takeaway: Tens of thousands of bots are now in service, but too many reports focus on frustration using them. Analytics like those Facebook are now making available should help identify where the problems are so developers can refine their bots.Read more

Beware fake Google—If you see a link to Google with an unusually small capital G, click at your own risk. It’s not a capital G at all, but a Unicode character being used to direct you to spam sites. The takeaway: I’m including this link because companies will need to start watching out for similar treatments of their domain names. A similar Unicode character displaying a capital A could lead people to a fishy site instead of Apple.com or Adobe.com. If your computer security people aren’t aware of this yet, alert them.Read more

“Click to Message” comes to Google ads—Google has created a click-to-message feature to its ads that allow users viewing an ad to send an SMS message directly to the user’s mobile phone number. Google said its research found 65% of consumers would consider using messaging to connect with a business to learn more about its products or services. SMS messages have a 79% open rate with messages read within three minutes, making text messaging a highly desirable way to interact with customers. The takeaway: Don’t incorporate this feature without making sure your organization has the infrastructure required to address the inquiries it may receive from a mobile-savvy population.Read more

Trends

Facebook’s Workplace and Microsoft’s Teams grab brands wary of Slack—Companies that were reluctant to adopt the upstart collaboration software Slack are evidently more comfortable with new competing tools from established software companies Facebook and Microsoft. Brands and agencies are adopting Facebook Workplace and Microsoft Teams, in part because of their stature and in part because they are enterprise suites rather than standalone products. They’re also less expensive than Slack. Among those that have signed on to Workplace are Starbucks, Heineken, Weber Shandwick, and TBWA Worldwide. The takeaway: The fact that companies are choosing Slack alternatives may not be good news for Slack, but it does signify a widespread acceptance of collaboration tools in the enterprise.Read more

Should brands tap into fear?—Fear is rampant globally these days, and it is “the simplest emotion to tweak in a campaign” according to one advertiser. It led to the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump. It’s also something brands can use, according to the founder of StrawberryFrog, an ad agency that calls itself a “cultural movement agency.” To tap into fear, you can’t represent the establishment, he writes. “In the era of the challenger, it is not enough to be for something,” he writes. “You must stand against something as well.” That allows you to demonstrate your brand’s values and beliefs. The takeaway: Fear has long been a marketing tactic. I have even used the “don’t be left behind” approach for training on new technologies. While some organizations can use the strategies suggested in this article without whipping up anger and hate, I worry that others will launch campaigns that produce unintended consequences. Tread carefully.Read more

Will 5G change the way we use the web?—The next evolution of mobile wireless networks will make mobile online connectivity significantly faster. That means more real-time connections, accelerated adoption of mobile for all online activity, faster adoption of Virtual and Augmented Reality, the development of new applications that take advantage of the network’s speed (such as tools that can process data in real time), lower operational costs, and a surge in video, among other things. The takeaway: 5G could mean home Internet access with be strictly wireless; no more cable modems. Cars can also go wireless with 5G, and the potential for citywide infrastructure is also being explored. While we won’t see 5G rollouts until the end of the decade, companies would be wise to step up mobile capabilities now in order to be ready when the new standard is introduced.Read more

Have people figured out how to game employee engagement?—Root CEO Jim Haudan says it’s time to stop measuring employee engagement. Boards of directors are incentivizing leaders to improve engagement numbers, he writes, leading to various tactics to raise the numbers without actually building a more engaged employee population. “The tool became the goal,” he writes. Instead of measuring engagement, Haudan suggests we measure the 4 C’s of engagement, which he defines as Caring about employees’ success, removing Constraints, creating the conditions for true Collaboration, and being Curious about what employees understand and think. The takeaway: I entirely agree with Haudan that too many companies are more concerned about producing high engagement numbers while remaining unconcerned about real engagement, but that doesn’t mean measuring engagement should stop. In fact, most good engagement studies (including those I incorporate into my internal communication audits) explore those 4 Cs, which by themselves don’t amount to engagement. Missing are critical elements like employee voice, a strategic narrative, organizational integrity, and engaging managers. From where I sit, engagement is harder than Haudan sees it.Read more

Brands are getting excited about Snap’s Spectacles—Snapchat Spectacles are getting marketers excited. One creative director said they represent an opportunity for brands to bring a new perspective and first-person narrative to their marketing efforts. “It will make an immediate impact on how we plan and produce our storytelling—the opportunity to share a POV perspective when skydiving, firefighting, skateboarding, or baking a pizza is now just $130 away.” Snap, the recently-renamed company being Snapchat, has demo’d the glasses for BBDO and several other agencies. The takeaway: I have no doubt brands will share the 10-second videos Spectacles create and we may even see campaigns based on the hardware. Whether Spectacles will become a runaway hit, though, remains a question. Despite the buzz they’re creating (see the item in the VR/AR/MR section below), I remain mildly skeptical about the use of glasses become a common activity.Read more

Research

Corporate reputations represent $4 trillion of shareholder value—If your leaders don’t think PR—the function that focuses directly on the company’s reputation—isn’t worthwhile, you might consider letting them know that their reputation accounts for $1 of every $5 in shareholder value. That’s the finding reported in the latest Reputation Dividend Report, which determined that the reputations of the S&P 500 companies are worth $3,977 trillion of their total shareholder value. That’s an increase of 2.5 percentage points. The takeaway: The evidence continues to mount that a company’s behavior matters more and more. While PR departments and agencies can help convey a company’s behavior, it’s up to leaders to make sure the behavior is consistent with what stakeholders are increasingly demanding in terms of transparency, ethics, and commitment to improving sustainability and societal good.Read more

Branded video drives brand interaction on social media—Nearly 75% of consumers report a connection between watching a video on a social media channel and the process they employ for deciding what to buy. A study from Brightcove found that nearly half of video viewers have bought something because they watched a branded video on social media and another third have considered it. 81% of consumer interact with brands on social media, and 43% have done so via a branded video. 79% say video is the easiest way to get to know a brand online. And 67% say they watch more video on social networks now than they did a year ago. The takeaway: Video is becoming a core competency for communicators. How up to snuff are your skills?Read more

Most students don’t know when they’re seeing sponsored content or fake news—Preteens and teens aren’t adept at assessing the accuracy and authenticity of content. 82% of middle-schoolers were unable to distinguish between content labeled “sponsored content” and a real news story, according to a study of 7,804 students by Stanford University. Students were shown native ads and fake news stories, but many found no reason to doubt them or were able to tell them from legitimate journalism. In response to this trend, some schools have started teaching “media literacy” to help equip students with the skills to detect questionable content. The takeaway: it is incumbent on organizations to take extraordinary steps to ensure audiences know exactly what they’re looking at. We need to be part of the movement to build credibility.Read more

Just the facts, ma’am—Nearly 60% of U.S. adults don’t want news organizations to add analysis or interpretation to news reports; they should stick to just the facts, according to the Pew Research Center. Interestingly, supporters of Donald Trump were more supportive of the just-the-facts approach with only 29% agreeing that journalists should add interpretation, while half of Hillary Clinton supporters wanted to see some interpretation. The public is broadly in favor of fact-checking, though, suggesting the public doesn’t perceive fact-checking as interpretation. The takeaway: The study addresses only journalism, not PR, but does suggest that companies sharing news (via press releases and other channels) might want to stick just to the news, using other avenues to add perspective.Read more

Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality

AR feature hidden in Snap’s Spectacles—Snap’s brilliant strategy has Snapchat users buzzing about Spectacles, the hard-to-find sunglasses that let you take and share photos and videos. Those lucky enough to get their hands on a pair are finding a hidden Augmented Reality feature; When you aim the glasses at the lettering on the protective case, you’ll see bubbles floating up that display the snaps shared by others. Consider it an AR Easter egg. The takeaway: The fact that AR appears as a throw-away Easter egg says something about the growing ubiquity of the platform.Read more

Diageo puts you in the car for a drunk-driving crash—The innovative uses of immersive Video and Virtual Reality keep coming, this time in a public service experience called “Decisions.” The Diageo-produced VR video follows three groups of people whose stories come together in a drunk-driving crash. The video is available on multiple platforms. The goal is to move beyond the typical safe-driving materials to which so many people have become desensitized. The takeaway: The compulsion to experience something like this is unusually strong and the experience is far more intimate than what people have become accustomed to. If you have a headset, give it a try to not only redouble your personal commitment to not driving drunk, but also to open your mind to other possibilities for the medium.Read more

Fake News

Elon Musk the latest fake news target—Conservative websites have been publishing stories by a writer named Shepard Stewart that attacked Elon Musk. It turns out it’s a fake name. Some of the publications that ran the pieces have removed them since determining there is no Shepard Stewart. A Tesla spokesperson noted that fake editorial content is a tool “used by those who don’t have facts on their side.” Unlike the political fake stories that have made headlines in recent weeks, content targeting Musk could be coming from business rivals or their supporters, such as “coal companies and utilities uneasy about Soar City and automakers and dealers concerned about Tesla.” Musk has been the subject of multiple attack sites. The takeaway: Given the number of real content antagonistic toward Musk, fake content has an easier time gaining traction. If your leaders are visible and at all polarizing, you can expect them to get the same treatment as the practice becomes more commonplace.Read more

Fake news sites finding writers via Amazon—Fake news is all over the real news these days, with assertions that it affecting the outcome of the U.S. presidential election and big sites like Google and Facebook taking steps to curtail it. Now comes word that right-wing sites that serve as the launching point for alt-right fake news are recruiting writers via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, the odd-job platform that has for years served as a means of finding coders and people willing to perform short-term, menial tasks for a few bucks. White supremacist site The Goldwater was offering $5 per fake news story. The takeaway: Too many pundits are asserting there’s nothing new about fake news. While it’s true that fake news has been around for a long, long time, the uses to which it is being put, the sources producing it, the channels through which it is being propagated, and the formats in which it is appearing (giving it the sheen of authenticity) are all new. We have never before seen publishers recruiting people to write it. And businesses are now being hurt by it. Shrug fake news off at your own risk.Read more

Google removing “In the News” label—In response to the fake news brouhaha, Google is rebranding its “In the News” section that appears at the top of a search engine results page with a rotation of “Top Stories.” The goal is to make it easier to identify real news (which is curated by real people at Google) and search results (which can include fake news). The takeaway: A band-aid solution, but every little bit helps.Read more

It’s getting colder outside, so this week’s wrap image—from the Flickr account of the U.S. Department of Agriculture—points out that “firewood that has been heat treated is often sold bagged, boxed or wrapped. Look for a state or federal seal to certify it was properly treated.”

]]>2016-11-25T20:01:00+00:00http://holtz.com/blog/blog/is-your-copy-mobile-ready-dec.-14-webinar-will-get-you-up-to-speed/4699/
http://holtz.com/blog/blog/is-your-copy-mobile-ready-dec.-14-webinar-will-get-you-up-to-speed/4699/#When:16:18:00ZRegister: for the “Writing for Mobile” webinarat noon EST on Wednesday, December 14

I was talking recently with a colleague about crafting content for mobile. “You don’t actually write for mobile,” he said. “You write for the web. People just read it when they find it on their smartphone.”

That’s a pretty common assumption. Just yesterday an item from Business to Community crossed my feed that noted, “Too many business owners think that all they have to do is convert their regular desktop site into a mobile-friendly one.”

It would be great if it were that easy. There is ample research, though, revealing dramatic differences between how people read a computer screen and how they read on their phones. Knowing how to write for mobile is even more important when you look at some of the latest numbers from Facebook. It wasn’t that long ago that Facebook announced it had surpassed 1 billion monthly active users. That number has risen to nearly 1.8 billion users, 1 billion of whom access Facebook solely on smartphones. One billion people also access Facebook daily, meaning a lot of your regular readers never see what you wrote on the desktop screen for which it was intended.

We are quickly becoming a mobile society. Even my wife has given up using a desktop computer. She does everything on her smartphone or tablet. I can’t remember the last time she even touched a keyboard.

For communicators, this means we have to craft our messages for mobile consumption.

Back in the late 1990s, I presented more than 50 full-day workshops on “Writing for the Wired World.” It was a hot topic and I was one of the first communicators to deliver a workshop specifically targeting PR and communication professionals. (Some of you probably attended one of those workshops.) While I don’t have any plans to hit the road for 50 day-long workshops on writing for mobile, I am presenting a one-time webinar covering what you need to know to start writing effectively for smartphone screens.

In the webinar, I will share a summary of some of the most important research about how people read their phones and offer vital recommendations for how to write in order to accommodate those behaviors.

Register today for the “Writing for Mobile” webinar at noon EST on Wednesday, December 14. Your registration covers you and everyone in your department, and you’ll also get access to the video replay of the webinar to watch as often as you like. I’ll also distribute a one-page cheat sheet on writing for mobile to all registrants.

Did a fear of conservative backlash stymie Facebook’s efforts to curtain fake news during the election?

A group of renegade Facebook employees has met in secret to come up with solutions to present to management.

Dan York reports on the recent meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force, Facebook Live’s apparent roll-out of its two-person streaming capability to non-verified users, and Twitter’s adoption of QR codes.

In the wake of the election, what’s the future of data and polling?

Two “State of Social Media Reports” have been released: one from Pew Research, the other from Buffer.

Howard Greenstein is a marketing technology strategist, working with companies to form strategies for online communities, social networking, blogs, and other media. He helped found the Social Media Club, which he served as CEO and executive director. Currently, Howard is chief operating officer at DomainSkate, which helps companies protect themselves from brand fraud and cybercrimes. And he is an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University.

Liz Scherer is a digital communications strategist specializing in health & wellness, nonprofits, regulated industry and agriculture. A pioneer in the social web healthcare movement, Liz has been involved in moving the envelope in terms of health and gender equity and is a former social media advisory board member for Health Justice CT. She is especially interested in how novel & emerging players are ultimately impacting agility marketing and in the disruption of content/communication-driven customer experiences. In addition to her extensive experience as a strategist, Liz has worked as a journalist, medical writer, copywriter and blogger and maintains active memberships in the National Association of Science Writers, the Association of Health Care Journalists and Journalism and Women’s Symposium. Currently, she is a curator of Emerging Infectious Diseases for univadis.com’s Clinical Essentials, and recently took a role to direct strategic communications for a mHealth publisher. Liz sits on the Advisory Board for the Center for Health, Media & Policy, Hunter College, NYC. In her spare time, she mentors health start-ups at GA/1776 DC and Village Capital, and is active in the D.C. Tech Community.

David Spark is a veteran tech journalist and founder the brand journalism firm Spark Media Solutions. Spark has worked with brands such as IBM, Microsoft, HP, and Indycar Racing. He’s reported on the tech scene for more than 18 years in more than 40 media outlets, and is the author of “THREE FEET FROM SEVEN FIGURES: One-on-One Engagement Techniques to Qualify More Leads at Trade Shows” available at ThreeFeetBook.com.

]]>2016-11-21T16:10:00+00:00http://holtz.com/blog/chatbots/friday-wrap-193-fake-news-hits-business-facebooks-muddled-metrics-a-new-kin/4697/
http://holtz.com/blog/chatbots/friday-wrap-193-fake-news-hits-business-facebooks-muddled-metrics-a-new-kin/4697/#When:16:34:00ZI extract items for the Wrap from my link blog, which you’re welcome to follow. To make sure you never miss an issue, subscribe to my weekly email briefing

News

PepsiCo has become the face of a cautionary tale—Speaking at a conference, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi noted that her employees were upset about the election of Donald Trump. “The question they are asking,” she said, “especially those who are not white, ‘Are we safe?’ Women are asking, ‘Are we safe?’ LGBT people are asking, ‘Are we safe?’” The response from Trump supporters was swift, many condemning her on social media (mainly Twitter) and calling for a boycott of Pepsi products. She was also accused of statements she never made. Worse, a fake news story started spreading, claiming her words have caused a 5-point drop in PepsiCo’s stock price (which isn’t true). The takeaway: Any and all companies are now subject to attack from nationalists emboldened by Donald Trump’s victory. I wrote in detail about this on my blog.Read more

Oops. Facebook finds more inaccurate metrics—Facebook has admitted finding a batch of miscalculated metrics that marketers and others rely on to determine how users are engaging with their content. The “bugs” (as Facebook calls them) resulted in under or overcounts of four measurements. Among these are weekly and monthly reach, the number of full video views, and time spent with a publisher’s Instant Articles. Facebook fessed up two months ago to two years worth of overestimating the time users spend watching video ads. To address what is clearly a problem, Facebook plans to seek third-party validation of its data. “We’re doubling down on our efforts at third-party verification,” a spokesperson said. The takeaway: Facebook provides 220 some-odd metrics categories that marketers and advertisers rely on when planning their campaigns. Third-party validation is overdue, but I’m glad to see it coming.Read more

“Post-truth” is Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year—Are you surprised? The takeaway: Fake news is part of the whole post-truth concept. It may have been confined to politics up to now, but brace yourself: Business will have to deal with post-truth issues soon (and some already are).REad more

Marketers rethinking how to study consumers in wake of election surprise—Marketers supposedly know what turns people’s crank. Imagine, then, their surprise at an election result they thought—based on the data—was a forgone conclusion. Now they’re asking themselves “some serious questions about how they study consumers, use data and quantify the value of facts—questions about the fundamental nature of their business.” One agency CEO said data and analytics have to be balanced with “social listening” and behavioral data (e.g., what people are searching for). Advertisers are also bracing themselves for “a new period of second-guessing any customer data.” The takeaway: It will be an uncertain environment in PR and marketing for a while, especially if you have relied on data to make decisions. Still, the powers that influenced the election results are fairly clear and smart communicators should be able to figure out where to look to test the results of their data analysis.Read more

Twitter cracks down on hate accounts—Twitter is usually reluctant to take action against accounts that spew hate, citing free speech concerns. But several prominent white supremacists found Twitter has suspended their accounts along with those of publications associated with them. Twitter says they violated rules against violent threats, harassment, hateful conduct, and multiple-account abuse. The move comes after Twitter introduced a keyword filtering tool that will make it easier for users to block out hate speech. The takeaway: The sooner Twitter becomes a more welcoming place, the easier it will be to add users. Harassment and hate speech have flourished there, turning off a lot of users.Read more

New Balance faces a new kind of crisis—A New Balance spokesman had no idea what he was stepping into when, based on the company’s opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership, he suggested a Trump presidency would move that particular issue in “the right direction.” The company earned blowback as customers shared videos of their New Balance shoes on fire. That was nothing, though, to the consequences of the praise heaped on the company on a neo-Nazi blog, leading white supremacists to declare New Balance “the official shoes of white people.” The company was emphatic in its response, promoting its commitment to diversity, but it has done little to quiet the controversy. The takeaway: These are strange times, people, strange times indeed. Every company is operating in uncharted territory. Exercise caution before wading into anything that even resembles a political discussion. I’m not saying not to engage. Just think things through so your message is clear and not open to misinterpretation by your customers or appropriation by forces with which you’d rather not be aligned.Read more

Monitor multiple Facebook platforms with a single inbox—Facebook is launching a tool for businesses that will allow them to monitor conversations across Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. A spokesman called the tool “one of our most frequent requests.” Some people were carrying more than one smartphone so they could respond quickly to queries coming in from different services. The Facebook Pages Manager app solves these problems, delivering “a unified stream” of commentary from all your company’s accounts. Individual tabs let you concentrate on individual channels. The takeaway: It’s too bad WhatsApp couldn’t be included, but I can see why it wasn’t. Tools like this are immensely helpful, though even better is one that incorporates non-Facebook accounts you’re monitoring (especially Twitter).Read more

Twitter introduces its own Snapcodes—On Snapchat, you can follow somebody by scanning their Snapcode, which consists of a selfie in a stylized QR code. Twitter is introducing a similar feature to some users (I’m one of them, evidently). If you have QR codes enabled in your settings, you can capture the image and make it available for others to scan. The takeaway: To begin with, QR codes are clearly not dead. Second, while anything that simplifies Twitter’s processes is great, I wonder how many Twitter QR codes we’ll see on accounts, business cards, blogs, or other places potential followers might have the opportunity to encounter them.Read more

Snapchat will use Foursquare data to better target its geofilters—If you want to make sure you’re targeting your ads with pinpoint geographic accuracy, Snapchat’s deal with Foursquare should warm your heart. You’ll now be able to tap into Foursquare’s data points (and its 90 million locations) when you run a geofilter campaign (those sponsored graphics that overlay photos and videos). That means “a retailer could home in on a specific store location instead of zeroing in on the larger shopping area.” The takeaway: Watch for more of these partnerships between tech companies, which make enormous sense. Imagine the possibilities if Pokemon Go had had access to Foursquare’s 90 million locations!Read more

Secure video calling comes to WhatsApp—Video chat on Instagram’s iOS, Android, and Windows app sounds like just another video chat entry in a crowded field, but encrypted calls as the default make this a compelling offering and a likely flashpoint in political and security forums. Only the two devices engaged in conversation have access to the data. WhatsApp has more than 1 billion users, “from high school students to politicians.” The takeaway: Privacy matters to a lot of people, which butts right up against security concerns and law enforcement’s desire to be able to access data to prevent crimes and terrorism. However, if American products don’t feature encryption, people who want it—most of whom are not criminals or terrorists—will simply use apps distributed outside the U.S.Read more

Just what we asked for—Umm, no. Nobody asked for this. Secret, the anonymous messaging app, is coming back. Co-founder David Byttow believes his new version of the app—which caused a lot of grief before it was withdrawn—is the cure for what ails us in social media. “People don’t have a good place to be their most authentic selves,” he said. The takeaway: If being their authentic selves was what people used Secret for in the first place, it never would have perished. I can’t imagine its uses will be all sunshine and rainbows this time around, either. From a business perspective, don’t forget Secret was used by employees to anonymously share secrets and spread rumors about their companies.Read more

Trends

State of Social report reinforces role of Facebook, video—Buffer is out with the 2016 edition of its State of Social report, which finds video is just as hot as you thought it was, “standing ou in the Facebook News Feed.” As more companies (and individuals) share video, using it to stand out will get harder, which could lead brands to pony up money to extend their videos’ reach. The report also finds Facebook remains the top choice of marketers while Google+ is fast turning into a has-been social network. The report also touts social media’s utility as a customer support tool. The key challenges marketers face with social media: driving traffic to their sites, lead generation, and defining ROI and measurement. The takeaway: While there may not be anything here that qualifies as an “ah-ha,” it’s always nice to have your assumptions validated.Read more

Interactive screens coming to gas pumps—The next time you pull into a BP station to gas up, you may find yourself engaging with Miles, an interactive gas pump that delivers verbal instructions for listening to music, sharing on social media, and playing trivia. BP partnered with Pandora (the streaming music service) and The Onion (which created Miles’ persona) to deliver content via gas pump. Customers will even be able to ask Miles to send a Pandora link to their smartphones to they can keep listening to a song after their tank is topped. There’s no AI interaction with Miles; it only encourages you to take advantage of the features available on the touch screen. The takeaway: Filling your tank is one of those “previously unusable moments.” Sure, you have your smartphone at hand while you’re waiting, but if Miles can engage you before you can open it, BP may be able to deliver its messages while you’re snapping a photo of yourself using a Snapchat-like filter or recording a video. It won’t be long before you’re interacting with your refrigerator. (It will be part of the Internet of Things, after all.)Read more

Social media demand leads to a new Frosted Flakes flavor—Listening to consumers can help you identify new market possibilities. Kellogg’s noticed fans on twitter “talking about how cinnamon would be so terrific on Frosted Flakes, and we really started to listen,” says a Kellogg’s spokesperson. So after considerable testing, the company is introducing Cinnamon Frosted Flakes. The takeaway: If you pay attention, social media is the biggest focus group you’ve ever seen, and the fact that the feedback you get is mostly unsolicited and authentic, careful monitoring can pay off in a big way. Kellogg’s is only the latest in a growing list of companies that have made product decisions based on what people were saying online (including Cadbury’s, which brought back a candy bar it had discontinued years earlier because a large community of fans were talking about how much they missed it).Read more

Research

CCO credibility isn’t as good as it should be—While chief communication officers may be getting time with the CEO, and CEOs mostly acknowledge the value of their company’s reputation, only 29% of CCOs surveyed feel their CEOs see them as key business advisors. Only 52% of CCOs report to CEOs. Less than half of respondents said communications is highly integrated in their companies and only 20% said the C-suite sees communication’s value as a contributor to the company’s bottom line. CCOs’ top advice for the next generation of communication leaders: show value, show ROI, and measure everything. The takeaway: This makes me want to weep. Openly. In public. As a profession, there should be common metrics by which our value can be made evident to leaders. Or perhaps that’s one reason we don’t formally qualify as a “profession.”Read more

Opinions about brands influenced most by earned media—If you want to influence consumer opinions about your brand or products, earned media is your best bet. That’s the conclusion of a study covering the U.S., UK, and China, which also found earned media most effective for gaining reach across social media. Earned media ranked at the top in all three countries. The study also found that consumers interact with an average of four devices per day. Additionally, intentional searches influence behaviors, brand preference, and purchase more than unintentional searches. Content designed to evoke an emotional response has the greatest impact. The takeaway: While these results don’t undermine the case for content marketing, they do reinforce the idea that having somebody else talk about you (rather than you talk about yourself) will always produce better outcomes.Read more

Values alignment is the top social influencer motivator—If you want to tap online influencers for your next campaign, demonstrating how your message aligns with their own personal values is more likely than wads of cash to bring them on board. According to a survey, 42% of influencers “feel that alignment with a brand’s core values is the number one most important factor when approached with a brand partnership opportunity.” Other survey findings include the fact that most influencers think Instagram is the social platform with the greatest opportunity for growth and 75% say photography is the most engaging medium for enticing their audiences (36% chose video). The takeaway: That influencers want to support companies that embrace their own values should be no surprise in light of a lot of other research that finds ethics and social good are top-of-mind for most consumers.Read more

Healthcare embraces mobile—82% of healthcare organizations have implemented a mobile strategy. The survey of 200 IT leaders in public and private healthcare organizations, life sciences, and pharmaceutical companies covered the U.S. France, Germany, and the UK. Most apps were targeted by physicians (59%), patients/members (55%) and technicians (44%). The apps were geared to productivity, patient engagement, and a patent/member demand for mobile apps. These drivers will shift in the future, with member/patient demand becoming a more prominent factor and productivity taking a back seat. The takeaway: Healthcare isn’t the only industry to recognize that mobile is its most important platform, but understanding the drivers helps the industry prioritize the approaches it takes. Creating apps for their own sake doesn’t make much sense.Read more

Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality

IT leaders are skeptical of AR benefits—Most consumers think Augmented Reality will be great, providing access to training guides, product demos, and more, but IT nearly 70% of IT professionals are uncertain whether the benefits of AR will outweigh the risks. The takeaway: Neither this article nor the full report were clear on what the risks of AR might be from an IT perspective, beyond “virtual graffiti” attacks in their workplaces. AR is coming whether IT leaders like it or not, so the focus should be on minimizing risk rather than complaining about it.Read more

VR front-and-center in Jaguar’s electric vehicle roll-out—Jaguar’s first-ever electric vehicle is being introduced through Virtual Reality. At events in London and Los Angeles, guests donned HTC Vive VR headsets and were transported into the car while still able to interact live with other participants. Last month, an Australian property site announced the launch of a VRP property app for Android mobile. Virtual Reality Kitchen is an IKEA VR experience that lets customers try new kitchen merchandise before buying it. The takeaway: We’re only scratching the surface of VR’s utility in marketing. Even if your company isn’t thinking about VR yet (and 84% of businesses are), think about what an immersive experience could mean for your next communication effort. You may just come up with something groundbreaking that justifies an unplanned investment.Read more

Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots

Marketers look to smart home devices to reach customers—More than 6 million home-based voice assistants (like Google Home and the Amazon Echo) will have shipped before the end of the year. That’s a lot of in-home voice interaction taking place and brands want in on the action. Consider Tide, which answers consumer questions about getting rid of stains (and then sends the customer the same instructions as a text message with a link for ordering Tide on Amazon). Johnnie Walker uses location technology to help people find local liquor stores that sell its brand. Once the product is bought, Johnnie Walker can suggest cocktail recipes. Skills are being added to the Alexa platform by the likes of Campbell’s Soup, Safeco Insurance, Quaker Oats, Patron Tequila, and Domino’s—and that’s just for the Echo. The takeaway: One of the most brilliant aspects of engaging customers through these devices is that it’s not interruptive, but rather on-demand. You won’t interact with Tide until you are coping with a stubborn stain. Consumers will appreciate brands that can help far more than those that pitch.Read more

Neural machine-translation fuels Google Translate update—Google’s translation tool is a lot more accurate. The company is calling its latest Translate update the most important advance in 10 years. Translate now uses neural networks that improve speech recognition and computer vision. The update covers eight language pairs. The takeaway: While it’s still not as good as human translation—mistakes still happen—the application of AI represents a huge improvement. You might consider Google Translate for some of your more basic communications translation needs. It’s also worth exploring how Google Translate can aid in cross-language communication within your company and among stakeholders.Read more

Trump bots overwhelmed Clinton messages—If you remain skeptical that bots have an impact, consider this New York Times story reporting research from Oxford University that found Donald J. Trump’s chatbots overwhelmed those programmed to support Hillary Clinton. These Twitter bots sent messages based on a specific topic in order “to rant, confuse people on facts, or simply muddy discussions.” According to one researcher, “A lot of what they pass around is false news.” The takeaway: Yes, chatbots are another conduit for fake news. As I note in my blog post on fake news, companies are already starting to feel the heat and chatbots are another mechanism of which to be wary. By and large, chatbots are terrific and can serve your organization well, but like any technology, they can be used for nefarious purposes.Read more

Nadella envisions bots (and AI) in every home—We’re getting close to the 40th anniversary of Bill Gates’ vision of a PC in every home. Now, the current CEO of Microsoft has a vision of his own: AI-fueled bots will be the new user interface, accessible through a variety of devices in every home. To help realize that vision, Satya Nadella has announced the launch of the Azure Bot Service, a public cloud-based bot builder. The takeaway: Nadella is right. Bots will be the most dominant means of accessing AI tools and services for the foreseeable future. If you haven’t already, start familiarizing yourself with bots the way you got to know the Web once upon a time.Read more

It seems Apple is working on AR glasses—Apple’s genius has never been invention. There were already MP3 players when it introduced the iPod, smartphones before the iPhone, and smart watches before the Apple Watch. There have been AR glasses, too (like the underwhelming Google Glass), but Apple could be applying its true genius—making a version of these products consumers just have to have—to Augmented Reality glasses. The evidence: Apple has ordered “small quantities of near-eye displays to test its concept.” AR glasses showing up in your local Apple Store isn’t something that’ll happen anytime soon, but CEO Tim Cook is on the record saying AR will be big. The takeaway: Microsoft and a host of other companies are betting big on AR, which (as I have noted before) will be a far bigger deal than Virtual Reality. Like bots, it’s a technology with which communicators should familiarize themselves.Read more

Useful Tools

Photo community now lets brands commission global shoots—500px began as a small community of photography fans, growing into “a global platform for amateur and professional photograhers to showcase their work and license their images to companies and brands.” The 8-million-member forum is adding a new service, 500px for Business, through which companies can “commission custom imagery from its pool of photographers around the world.” The takeaway: Back in the days when I bought photography, I had to contract with an individual. If the shoot wasn’t local, that meant finding someone who fit the bill, which wasn’t easy. It’s a testament to the power of digital networking that I could now find a photographer in the region where I needed shots, find a photographer whose images are readily available for evaluation, and buy only the photos I want from what the photographer uploads to the site. A classic win-win.Read more

This week’s wrap image—of a leash wrapped around Moxie’s leg after he danced in circles—comes from the Flickr account of Laurie Avocado.

Allergan’s Botox will soon be available for dog and cat cosmetic treatments!
GE discourages Muslim children from pursuing STEM education!
Engineer due to testify in case against Bechtel found shot to death!
Walmart sells Chinese-made toy that kills 100s of children!
CVS importing fake drugs from Syria!

None of these stories, of course, are true, nor have they appeared anywhere. I made them up. But that doesn’t mean these stories and others like them—stories that could influence perceptions of your company and affect its sales—couldn’t appear on some obscure site you’ve never heard of and spread like wildfire through social media.

Welcome to the era of fake news

The coverage of fake news has exploded since Donald Trump’s victory in the recent U.S. presidential election. Craig Silverman reports on BuzzFeed that fake election news produced more engagement on Facebook than the top stories from the biggest mainstream news sites during the last three months of the campaigns. Fake news stories delivered 8.7 million shares, reactions, and comments, compared to 7.3 million for mainstream news, according to the BuzzFeed analysis.

So prevalent is fake news that Oxford Dictionaries has proclaimed post-truth the word of the year. The term refers to “circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than emotional appeals.” That definition encompasses more than just fake news, but there’s no question that fake news contributed greatly to the elevation of the post-truth concept. Consider an August report that Hillary Clinton’s super PAC planned to spend $1 million to correct misinformation on Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, and Instagram—more than three times spent to turn out Latino voters.

Election-related fake news was predominantly created to boost Trump’s candidacy, inspiring supporters to spread the stories among like-minded people on the key social media sites. Among the stories that gained traction, on display in a Huffington Post piece, included…

George Soros: ‘I’m going to Bring down the U.S. by Funding Black Hate Groups’

Germany Folds To Shariah Law, Approves Child Marriages

Doctor Who Treated Hillary’s Blood Clots Found Dead

Some of these posts linked to publications that don’t actually exist (with sites created just to host that one fake story). Others linked to articles (on Snopes.com, for example) that actually disprove the assertion the post made. Still others were published on extremist websites whose writers were not beholden to principles of credible journalism. Some were on websites published by teens, many of whom lived in the Macedonian town of Veles, who figured out that creating this red meat for Trump supporters earned them money via Google’s AdSense product.

Now that the election is over, it’s not unreasonable to expect the torrent of fake news to subside. Don’t bet on it, though. The same factions that spread it on behalf of a presidential candidate are likely to keep up the pace in support of their political agenda (and to build consensus against their rivals). Still, with the passions of the election receding, some creators of fake news are likely to turn their attention to businesses they love or hate. Meanwhile, non-political operatives will undoubtedly learn the lesson of the 2016 election and apply similar tactics against businesses. The list of potential motives is endless: anti-corporate activism, unsavory union tactics, competitive harassment, dissatisfied shareholders, unethical stock traders, even ethics-challenged, bottom-feeding PR practitioners…

But aren’t social networks taking steps to end fake news?

Yes, they are, though some of it is being undertaken reluctantly. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told a tech conference, “That it influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea. There’s a profound lack of empathy in asserting the only reason why someone could have voted the way they did is because they saw some fake news.” A Twitter spokesperson echoed the sentiment, arguing that “Scapegoating social media for an election result ignores the vital roles that candidates, journalists and voters play in the democratic process.”

Not everyone agrees. Frank Speiser, co-founder of social media analytics company SocialFlow believes the algorithms that decide what people will see on social networks had so outsized an impact that he (unlike most pollsters and journalists) called the election for Trump. (He was also right in his prediction that Brits would vote to leave the European Union based on the same data.)

Whether Zuck agrees that fake news spread on Facebook influenced election results is academic. It’s a bona fide shitstorm and doing nothing is not an option. Facebook told the Wall Street Journal it won’t allow fake news websites to tap into the company’s ad network. Google has implemented a similar ban. Presumably, that will keep kids in Macedonia from churning out fake news as clickbait to earn folding money.

Additionally, a group of Facebook employees have formed an off-the-books task force that takes issue with their boss’s assertion that fake news didn’t play a role in the outcome of the election. The task force has met twice in the last week or so, in secret, but plans to go public with a list of recommendations for the social network’s leaders.

But let’s be realistic. Efforts by Facebook, Google, and others to stifle fake news will fail. This genie is out of the bottle. Now that people know fake news produces real outcomes, they will find ways around the blocks, just as spammers and hackers who deploy computer viruses have. Further, not every fake news creator has a profit motive. Someone out to depress a company’s share price, create hysteria about a company’s practices or build a movement against a CEO couldn’t care less if the fake story produces revenue. Their only interest is seeing it spread.

It is far simpler to get fake news to go viral than it is to spread real news (or even a marketing video). All you need to do is make it sensational enough to appeal to people whose passions on that topic are already easily inflamed, then make sure to seed it in forums those people are likely to see. For example, imagine how many environmental activists might spread a story proclaiming a company had been pouring mercury in a river that resulted in hundreds of local residents suffering agonizing deaths without verifying its accuracy.

Fake news targeting companies has already begun

In fact, businesses are already targets of fake news, though the election connection is still part of it. PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is the target of Trump supporters calling for a boycott of Pepsi products based on her statement that Trump voters should “take their business elsewhere.” It’s something she never said. The fake quote appeared on sites like Truthfeed and Gateway Pundit, which also claimed the company’s stock had fallen 5% because of Nooyi’s anti-Trump stance. Except it was a statement she never made, and Pepsi’s stock price . The fake news is apparently retaliation over Nooyi’s condemnation of the campaign’s nasty rhetoric and a statement that her employees were worried about Trump’s election. But Nooyi also congratulated Trump on his election. Pepsi’s stock has fallen in recent days, but mostly because it has “entered oversold territory,” which has nothing to do with the election.

While Google may block fake news producers from earning AdSense revenue, if the fake news gains traction, it still trends high in search results; it was the fourth listing in Google News, shown below:

Appearing in Google News lends the fake story a certain amount of legitimacy all by itself. And, like I say, it won’t be long before we start seeing these kinds of stories about businesses sans the election angle.

So what can companies do?

Suggestions for how to deal with fake news are the subject of a lot of content. For example, media studies professor Brian Hughes writes on CNN that the U.S. needs the equivalent of the Fairness Doctrine, a 1950s FCC regulation that required the three TV networks to air opposing views for every perspective it presented from a party or candidate. “It should be possible,” Hughes writes, “to individually program our news feeds for balance and accuracy. If services like Facebook and Google are allowed to become news-aggregating monopolies, it’s only reasonable to expect them to serve the public good as well as the bottom line.”

Even if that’s practical (and I’m not sure it is), it doesn’t ensure fake business news would be subject to that balanced presentation of content.

From a monitoring perspective, companies would be well served to identify fake news as early as possible. That means tweaking existing monitoring services to watch for fake news. It also means keeping an eye on the sites that are known to produce it; several lists already already exist, like this, this (although it hasn’t been updated since mid-January).

There is also a Chrome extension that will display a pop-up warning if you visit a site that has been flagged on Professor Zimdars’s list, which could make it easy to check the validity of any story that crosses your feed.

While identifying fake news is easy, quashing it is hard. Consider the cool $1 million Clinton’s super PAC spent to tamp it down, yet she still lost. Getting advocates and ambassadors to correct the record could be effective. It could also result in those employees and supporters themselves being targeted.

Earning and buying media to correct the record may not reach the news feeds of those inclined to believe the fake story—and keep in mind that, according to the Pew Research Center, more and more people get their news through social media. There are plenty of stories about the fake news targeting PepsiCo, and even a Snopes.com article laying out the facts, yet the fake news story itself is still trending in Google News and spreading through social channels.

Legal action could result in a takedown of the original story but have little impact on its reproduction elsewhere and its dispersion through social channels.

I’m open to ideas about how to deal with damaging fake news that spreads about a company, its leaders, its employees, or its products or services. I suspect we’ll have to wait until it becomes a thing to assess the effectiveness of various tactics.

At this point, your best defense is vigilance along with some serious discussions involving PR, legal, risk management, and other interested departments about tactics your company should be ready to deploy.